BC

1000 protest pipeline hearings

More than a thousand people gathered during a rare Vancouver snowfall Monday to show a federal regulatory review panel their opposition to the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.

Opponents of the project were bolstered by the nationwide Idle No More campaign, which brought First Nations from as far as the Haisla Nation on the North Coast, near the would-be tanker port of Kitimat, to voice their opposition to the pipeline plan at the start of community hearings in the city.

At Victory Square, protesters gathered before marching to the site of the evening hearings in the city's downtown.

There, they were met by Vancouver police who kept protesters from entering the building. They chanted outside the Sheraton Wall Centre for a short time, chanting "No Pipelines" before moving on.

"The Harper government has one of the most aggressive, high-carbon strategies in the world," Eddie Gardner, of the Sto:lo Nation, told the crowd as they mobilized ahead of the march.

He blasted the federal Conservatives for changes they've made to environmental laws that will affect oversight of the Northern Gateway and other future projects.

"He implemented that legislation, it has become law, and he did it with crass and ruthless disregard for the environment," Gardner told the protesters.

"Stephen Harper is hell bent to expand the tar sands.

"Canada is coming alive to Harper's real agenda ... he is one of the biggest enemies of the environment."

Chris Trendle, 77, and a friend came downtown from the North Shore of Vancouver for the protest.

"I came down because I want to be able to look my grandchildren in the eye and say, 'It went through, perhaps, but I did all I could to stop it,'" said Trendle, who has 18 grandchildren and four grandchildren.

Protesters also took aim at a proposed expansion of the existing TransMountain pipeline operated by Kinder Morgan.

The pipeline moves oil from the oil sands to port in Vancouver, and a proposed $4.3-billion expansion would more than double the capacity of the 1,100-kilometre line.

The joint review panel, which is weighing the Northern Gateway project, has scheduled eight days of community hearings in Vancouver in the coming weeks.